Carr joins calls for rethink of drugs laws

Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr says the policing of 'soft' drugs is a waste of police time, and that he would support their "effective decriminalisation".

A group of eminent Australians, including former federal police chief Mick Palmer and former New South Wales Director of Public Prosecutions Nicholas Cowdery, has released a report which says the 'war on drugs' has failed and concludes that Australia should consider legalising some substances.

Senator Carr, whose younger brother died of a heroin overdose, contributed to the report before entering federal politics.

Today he stood by his contribution and said he did not think that other members of the Federal Government were far from his position.

"I support a police regime that represents a de facto decriminalisation of lesser drugs at the margins," Senator Carr told ABC News Breakfast.

He said he was proud that during his term as NSW premier, he effectively eliminated criminal penalties for individual marijuana use and opened Australia's first legal heroin injecting room.

Today he said he did not back the wholesale legalisation of drugs like heroin.

Today's report, written for the think tank Australia21, claims the war on drugs has failed and Australia should consider legalising some substances.

The report is the result of a round table that brought together former premiers, health ministers and other politicians from across the spectrum, senior public servants and parents of young people whose lives have been ruined by drugs.

Former Director of Public Prosecutions Nicholas Cowdery has been a longstanding advocate of relaxing drug prohibition, and has himself been responsible for jailing drug dealers and users.

He says while it was his job to work within the law, the law should change and the conversation about drugs should be destigmatised.

"I'm not advocating in respect of any drugs that they should simply be available to anybody who wants them," he told PM.

"It will not happen overnight and it may not happen in relation to all drugs. But what I would like to see is the legalisation, the regulation - so it's not just supermarket stuff - the control and the taxation of drugs, much as we do with alcohol and nicotine at present."

The possession of small quantities of drugs was decriminalised in Portugal 11 years ago, and Mr Cowdery points to that country as an example decriminalisation can work.

"Despite all the warnings that it would create a honey-pot effect and that people would rush into Portugal from all over Europe, that sort of thing has not happened," he said.

I support a police regime that represents a de facto decriminalisation of lesser drugs

Senator Bob Carr

But Senator Carr was cautious to distance himself from wholesale legalisation.

"I think it is dumb to put those things in your body," he said.

"I think puffing on marijuana, that's something of the past.

"You get a bigger hit from a healthy lifestyle. Go on a bushwalk, a jog, swim a marathon - they're the things I'd advocate, instead of sitting around making your brain dopey.

"But I think we've got to be taking police resources away from chasing people into nightclubs in the hope of finding ecstasy in their pockets, and having sniffer dogs at railway stations trying to catch people with small quantities of marijuana.

"It's not an appropriate use of police time, and police time is very, very expensive."

National debate

Senator Carr says Australia is "ready" to reopen the debate about drug control.

"I don't think the Government is that far from my position. The Government position is to hit hard the Mr Bigs, the major smugglers, the people who are bringing prohibited substances into Australia or manufacturing it in their backyard laboratories, and I agree with that approach completely.

"I think mothers and fathers want to know that their youngsters are protected from policies that are going to see them more likely to use drugs than not, but if their kids are going through a foolish phase where they're smoking marijuana, the mothers and fathers don't want them to be treated as criminals.

"If there's a serious position where the son or daughter is using heroin, which is terribly disturbing to a mother or father and rightly so, I don't think the family would want the child treated as a criminal.

"But they would want to know that the needles are clean, not infected with AIDS or with hepatitis.

"They would want to know that they're not shooting up in the back alley or park, but in a medically supervised injecting room where there are medicos on hand and there will be an effort made to bring those youngsters into treatment."

Despite all the warnings that it would create a honey-pot effect and that people would rush into Portugal from all over Europe, that sort of thing has not happened.

Nicholas Cowdery, former NSW Director of Public Prosecutions

Australian Medical Association president Dr Steve Hambleton also believes a debate about how best to tackle drugs is overdue.

"It is time for conversation," he told ABC News Breakfast.

"I think some international areas have had different proposals around these sort of things.

"You look at the difference between licit drug use and illicit drug use, it has taken us at least 50 years to really make an impact on tobacco use.

"Alcohol is costing us about $36 billion in direct and indirect effects every year, so it's not true to say that if we legalise or decriminalise something, that you will decrease the cost base. But there are certain harms that we may be able to minimise."

But Dr Hambleton was more cautious about committing the AMA to a position on the issue.

"I guess the AMA would like to look at the evidence," he said.

"Certainly we see proponents of marijuana saying there are medicinal uses, and therefore it should be decriminalised. We should explore that further.

"We do see obviously tobacco and alcohol effects, but we certainly see amphetamines, the effects of marijuana in our emergency rooms, and it's something we need to examine periodically.

"I think we're at the point of time where we want to re-examine the evidence.

"If there is international evidence, we should be reviewing it. It's probably timely that we do that."

Today Prime Minister Julia Gillard said she did not back the decriminalisation of drug use.

"I'm not in favour of decriminalisation of any of our drug laws," she said.

"We want to keep supporting people who need our help to break out of a cycle of addiction and we need to keep policing so that we are tackling those that are seeking to make a profit out of what really is a trade in incredible misery."

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